Roadmap to

CONNECT 2030 Sustainability Report 2019

Langham Hospitality Group

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

1

Table of Contents

Message from Executive Chairman 2

Message from CEO 3

About Us

4

Our Sustainability Strategy Background

Our Purpose, Vision and Goals

Our Sustainability Governance

6 Caring for Our Community Strategy and Goals

Colleague Volunteering

Supporting Locals

Engaged with Conscious Travellers

Inspire to Embrace Differences

17

Being an Ethical Business Strategy and Goals

Integrated Management System to meet International

Standards

Supply Chain Management

9 Protecting Our Environment Strategy and Goals

Climate Change

Water

Waste Management

Sustainable Sourcing

23

Caring for Our Colleagues Strategy and Goals

Fair and Equal Working Environment

Professional & Personal Development

Caring, Inclusive and Collaborative (CIC) Culture

12 Appendices Appendix 1 – About Our Sustainability Report

Appendix 2 – Materiality Matrix

Appendix 3 – Engaging with Stakeholders

Appendix 4 – UN Sustainable Development Goals

Appendix 5 – List of GRI Standard Disclosures

32

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

2

Message from Executive Chairman In 2019, we made big progress in our sustainability

efforts for the year and put in place, a rigorous plan

for the future, reinforcing our commitment in

protecting the environment we live in.

With the vision of integrating sustainability into the

core purpose of our business, Langham Hospitality

Investments closed a sustainability-linked four-year

term loan, revolving credit facility amounting to

HK$7.5 billion, which attracted participations from

11 banks in Britain, China, Hong Kong S.A.R.,

Japan and Singapore. This syndicated loan is the

first that is raised by a listed company in the Asian

hospitality sector and the initiative reflects the

group’s commitment in creating positive

environmental change and binds us financially

accountable on the impact our business has on the

environment.

As our business develops and expands, high

standards of ethical behaviour and establishing

excellence in environmental responsibility are key

fundamentals as we continue to expand the number

of hotels and elevate The Langham and Cordis

brands within Langham Hospitality Group.

At the hotel level, I am also very proud that we are

increasingly recognised for our sustainability

efforts. In addition to the EarthCheck certifications,

one of the key highlights was The Langham,

London being named “Sustainable Hotel of the

Year” at the Hotel Cateys Award 2019 for having

taken innovative steps to neutralize its impact on

the environment in the United Kingdom.

While we have made noteworthy strides in

mapping out the future strategy of our CONNECT

programme, global events and trends may continue

to influence our priorities and we must remain

focused on achieving longer-term success in

sustainability issues. As a global company, I am

confident we will continue to see success with the

continual expansion of the CONNECT programme

and in creating a more sustainable future.

Dr. K.S. Lo

Executive Chairman

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

3

Message from CEO Langham Hospitality Group (LHG) continues to

make major progress in our sustainability efforts in

2019.

We reinforced our commitment and ownership of

CSR issues by aligning ourselves with international

standards, especially through our partnership with

EarthCheck. We are very proud that 16 of our

hotels have received EarthCheck certification and

that four of them - The Langham hotels in London

and Pasadena, as well as the Cordis hotels in

Auckland and Hong Kong – have achieved the

coveted Platinum status.

In May 2019, we opened Cordis Dongqian Lake,

our first Cordis resort in China, commenced the

renovation project at The Langham, Boston and

extended a new tower at Cordis, Auckland. Even as

our company grows, we hold steadfast to the LHG

corporate values and our CONNECT programme

objectives – to continue to improve our practices,

reduce waste and protect the environment, support

local communities, nurture our colleagues and

inspire our guests.

In addition to phasing out single use plastics and

putting in place a rigorous data protection plan, I

am pleased that we have made inroads mapping

out a long-term strategy. We are strongly

committed as a sustainable company to implement

our CONNECT 2030 road map focusing on the key

areas of environment, community, colleagues and

governance. Our ambition is to reduce the group’s

impact on the environment by 50 percent, create a

shared value community, operate as an

accountable, trustworthy and transparent company

with strong ethical business practices, and to be

employer of choice, which includes fostering an

engaging, inclusive, collaborative and respectful

work environment and enhancing a fair and equal

working environment for our colleagues.

We understand there is always room for

improvement and I would like to thank all who

have contributed to our successful CONNECT

journey this year. I look forward to achieving more

milestones with the team and striving towards our

goal as a forward-thinking, trustworthy

sustainability leader in the hospitality industry.

Stefan Leser

Chief Executive Officer

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

4

About Us

Langham Hospitality Group

Langham Hospitality Group encompasses a family of distinctive hotels under the Langham Hotels and Resorts and Cordis brands

with more than 30 projects currently either confirmed or in a developed stage of negotiation from Asia, Europe and North

America to the Middle East. The Group takes its name from the legendary Langham in London, which was widely recognised as

Europe's first Grand Hotel.

Langham Hospitality Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Great Eagle Holdings (Stock Code: 0041) which was founded in

1963 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. Great Eagle Holdings has been selected as a constituent member of

the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability benchmark Index for seven consecutive years. The Environment, Social and Governance

(ESG) performance rating at “AA-” in 2017, making us one of the top thirty performers amongst the Hong Kong listed companies.

For more information, please access the website at www.langhamhospitalitygroup.com.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

5

2019 Snapshot

+ 600K Floor Area (sqm) in 2019 vs 2011

+ 3,000 Number of colleagues in 2019 vs

2012

16 out of 22 hotels EarthCheck Certified (4 Platinum,

4 Gold, 6 Silver and 2 Bronze)

The Langham, London is recognized as the

“Sustainable Hotel of the Year” at the 2019

Hotel Cateys awards.

Regional Vice President, Canada &

Managing Director, Chelsea Hotel, Toronto,

has been awarded the W.H. Baxter Lifetime

Achievement Award.

Langham Hospitality Group in Hong Kong

continued to be recognised with the award

of “Manpower Developer” organised by the

Employees Retraining Board (ERB) Hong

Kong. (valid 1 Apr 2018 – 31 Mar 2020)

- 34% Energy intensity (MJ per sqm)

in 2019 vs 2011

+ 62% Average Training Hours per

colleagues in 2019 vs 2012

+ 95% Total Community Service Hours

in 2019 vs 2012

- 27% Carbon intensity (kg per sqm)

in 2019 vs 2011

- 48% Incident Rate in 2019 vs 2012

+ 26% Sponsorships to Non-profit

Organisations in 2019 vs 2012

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

6

Our Sustainability Strategy

Background

CONNECT is our corporate sustainability programme

which is founded based on our strong commitment to

become a sustainable company. CONNECT

Programme is composed of four focus areas including

Environment, Community, Colleagues and Governance

which shape our thinking and actions leading our

journey in becoming a sustainable company.

Our CONNECT journey started from 2008, at our hotel

in Auckland. Unlike many other companies, it was a

“grassroot” movement among our hotels to introduce

guests and colleagues programmes with the first

objective to reduce our impact on the environment.

The programme expanded in the past decade together

with the growth of Langham Hospitality Group (from

10 hotels to 22 hotels in 2019). We have laid a solid

foundation to engage colleagues at all levels, ensured

compliance, and become the best practice for the

industry. We are one of the very few global hospitality

companies that has introduced Sustainability

performance as one of the Key Performance Indicators

since 2012. Through the annual Global CONNECT

Events, all our stakeholders are invited to celebrate and

embrace the CONNECT culture.

In 2018, we observed two things – the world (and the

climate crisis) is developing much more rapidly; and

our colleagues are prepared to challenge themselves in

this evolving world. We therefore conducted an

extensive review of our CONNECT Strategy to meet

not only the current, but also the future stakeholders’

expectations. A series of workshops and interviews

were held and a survey was done with our key internal

and external stakeholders to shape our 10-year

sustainability strategy to lead our growth and

development towards 2030 sustainably.

How we define sustainability Sustainability means striking a balance between the

continuous development of our business and people

and protecting our environment.

Sustainability is not marketing. We do not accept any

greenwashing in our business, and therefore, our action

must walk the talk.

Sustainability is not static, it must be adaptive to the

evolving world – climate change, social and political

instability, globalisation and cultural shift, disruptive

business model.

Sustainability is everyone’s responsibility and

therefore, must integrate into every business activity, so

that it incorporates into the key decision-making

processes.

Sustainability should create shared values with our

colleagues, society and the environment to co-exist in

the future world.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

7

Our Purpose, Vision and Goals

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

8

Our Sustainability Governance

Sustainability is embedded into the company

governance structure and managed as part of the

integrated management system. Langham Hospitality

Group is governed by the Executive Committee and

chaired by the Chief Executive Officer. The Executive

Committee reports directly to the Executive Chairman

of the Group, who is also the Chairman of Great Eagle

Holdings Limited.

The Executive Committee is responsible for monitoring

and reviewing the overall corporate environmental,

social and governance (ESG) arrangements and

approving relevant policies. It plays a central support

and supervisory role in the Company’s ESG duties and

endorses the CONNECT Programme.

Working closely with the CEO and Group CONNECT

Champions, the Group Director of Sustainability is

responsible to lead and implement the Group’s

sustainability vision and strategy together with the

relevant function heads, including climate-related risks

and opportunities. The Executive Committee is

consulted and updated on a regular basis and provides

direction and allocate resources accordingly.

CONNECT is implemented in the hotels by hotels’

CONNECT Champions and CONNECT Committees

which must be represented by an executive committee

member together with representatives from each

function. They drive implementation of the CONNECT

programme in their hotels.

The performance against key sustainability indicators is

reported to Executive Committee annually and

reviewed with CONNECT Champions at least three

times a year during the regular regional CONNECT

Champions meetings. During this regional meeting,

key initiatives, challenges and learnings are shared

with the Champions.

To ensure compliance with legislation, industry best

practices and company policies and procedures, the

Executive Committee is also responsible for the

implementation of the Group’s internal control, risk

management, and financial reporting. It reviews the

remuneration structure at high level and the

compensation and benefits packages of senior

management. Langham Hospitality Group also abides

by the internal control systems of Great Eagle Holdings

Limited.

Foster Sustainable Culture Five Global CONNECT Events related to environment,

community, colleagues and governance are selected

every year. All our hotels are required to participate at

these selected events for the purpose of fostering the

group-wide “CONNECT” power. The main objective

of these events is putting CONNECT into action when

we design the activities. We believe it is important to

ensure our colleagues embrace sustainability not only

in their daily work, but also as part of their lifestyle.

We share our hotels’ sustainability initiatives internally

through our quarterly CONNECT newsletter, and

social media channels such as Facebook Group and

WeChat group. This helps to maintain the momentum

of driving new initiatives and creative ideas flowing

through the company.

Global CONNECT Events – Loving Earth Month

Global CONNECT Events – Colleague Wellness Week

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

9

Being an Ethical Business STAKEHOLDERS HAVE CONFIDENCE IN OUR BRANDS

Strategy and Goals

Being ethical means doing the right thing. This is the

foundation of being a sustainable company. We have

clearly stated our principles in our Code of Ethics

which explains the basic standards of behaviour

expected of our colleagues in connection with their

official duties. Like many other companies, a set of

policies, standards, and standard operating procedures

are maintained to provide further guidance on the

operating practices. Training and regular audits by

functions support and monitor the implementation of

our requirements.

In recent years, we have been growing at a pace and

into destinations that require us to consider how we

make an impact for our stakeholders including our

guests, suppliers, colleagues, regulators and non-

governmental organisations. We also noticed that as

the world evolves more rapidly, a more agile and

sophisticated approach is vital to ensure we are doing

the right thing at the right time.

We will align and enhance our current corporate

guidelines and management system to meet

international standards in areas such as anti-

corruption; operational risks (e.g. fire, life, safety and

food safety); data privacy and cyber security; human

rights (e.g. labour practices, harassment); crisis and

business continuity (e.g. natural disaster, pandemic

crisis). Walking the talk is our core belief in practicing

sustainability, therefore we are committed to ensure all

our hotels achieve the international standards and

verified by third party on regular basis.

Integrity and trust continue to be more important than

ever in today’s business world, we must ensure we

always conduct our business in an ethical and

responsible manner. Transparency is the key to build

trust and enable stakeholders to make conscious

decisions. It is also an important driver for improved

performance and creation of stronger impact across our

value chain, and accelerate more sustainable practices.

We aim to be a transparent and trustworthy company

internally and externally.

We can’t operate responsibly without inclusion of our

supply chain. We appreciate our partnerships with

suppliers for better efficiency, innovation and

sustainability as described in our Supporting Locals

and Sustainable Sourcing chapters. We would also

need to drive the best ESG risk management practices

along our supply chain.

All hotels achieved the INTERNATIONAL

STANDARDS and VERIFIED BY THIRD

PARTY

Drive BEST ESG RISK MANAGEMENT

PRACTICES ALONG OUR SUPPLY

CHAIN

ZERO INCIDENT reported or monitored

Integrated Management System to

meet International Standards

Company Standard System Hotels are prone to all different types of risks that can

pose harm to our guests, colleagues and other

stakeholders. We are always responsible for protecting

the people and assets in our hotels in case of

undesirable incidents occurrences. With the

information explosion era and the wide applicability of

technology, we need a simple and effective “live”

integrated management system. In the following year,

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

10

we will simplify and revamp to build a “Company

Standard” system to enable our colleagues to do the

right thing at the right time.

Building the Culture We want to create a culture where colleagues

understand that we expect them to uphold the high

standards set out in our policies and procedures. All

new colleagues will receive the Code of Ethics through

the induction training at the First60 Certification

programme. Depending on the job duties of our

colleagues, they will also receive regular

communications, refresher training, and team briefings

on various aspects of our compliance programme. All

colleagues are also aware that they have a duty to

report any breaches of our Code of Ethics and some

policies.

In addition to the standardised training programme at

hotels, there is a Global CONNECT Event relating to an

internal review and refresher training on a selected

topic concerning corporate ethics across the group.

Practices and training on anti-corruption, data privacy,

and employee rights and equal opportunities were

reviewed and refreshed in recent years.

Starting in 2019, we modified the Global CONNECT

Event format. We organised the first internal Risk

Preparedness Video Competition which aims to

develop the culture on risk preparedness in hotels for

our colleagues and relevant stakeholders. Governance

and risk preparedness can sometimes be a boring topic.

Therefore, we encouraged our hotels to create fun

videos to promote how colleagues can prepare and

manage risks so that they think it through and

understand the process to help minimise risks to life

and safety and are prepared if any incidents happen.

Our 2019 Progress - Natural disaster was the theme of the first Risk

Preparedness Video Competition as part of the

Global CONNECT Events. The commonly found

natural disasters as identified by our hotels

included earthquake, typhoon, hurricane and

snowstorm.

Cordis, Hong Kong (Typhoon) is one of the Best Video

Awardees

- We continued our global awareness programmes

on Data Protection and General Data Protection

Regulation (GDPR) in 2019. All colleagues across

all our hotels participated in awareness training

sessions. Two tiers of training were delivered -

general awareness for all colleagues and an

advanced version for managers and relevant

colleagues who might have the opportunity to

handle personal data. The training has also been

incorporated into our new colleague onboarding

training. During 2019, we also deployed consent

management tools on our websites to allow visitors

to customize and tailor our use of cookies for them.

- Our hotels in Hong Kong arranged the anti-

corruption talks annually by the Independent

Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to ensure

our relevant colleagues receive the most updated

information on anti-corruption in the hotel

industry.

- Our hotels in Europe and North America (London,

New York and Pasadena) conducted trainings to

help increase awareness on human rights related

topics (e.g. human trafficking, bullying, and

harassment) for colleagues.

- In summary, we spent nearly 32,000 hours on

corporate ethics training on different topics in 2019.

Topics 2018 2019

Environmental 2,604 1,990

Anti-discrimination and

diverse workforce 2,982 2,464

Health and safety 15,716 15,291

Anti-corruption 981 915

Data privacy 1,117 11,199

Total Hours of Training 23,400 31,859

Moving Forward - We will establish company standard and

monitoring systems that are aligned with

international standards to protect guests,

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

11

colleagues, external vendors, asset, reputation and

environment.

- We will prioritise our material issues and review

our guiding principles for disclosure in the future

to improve the transparency of our sustainable

operations.

- We will continue to enhance the systems, processes

and tools that we use in the areas of data protection

and information security to ensure we are

responsible custodians of the personal data that our

guests, colleagues and other stakeholders entrust to

us. We also continue with ongoing awareness

communications and training, to ensure that our

colleagues are well equipped to be our first line of

defense when it comes to data protection and

information security.

Supply Chain Management

We begin with choosing the suppliers who can provide

the sustainable products or services based on our

Responsible Purchasing Guidelines and Sustainable

Hotel Design Guidelines. You may read more details

in the Sustainable Sourcing and Sustainable Hotel

Design sections.

We also recognise that through leadership and

monitoring along the supply chain, we can promote

adoption and support of business integrity, fair labour

practices (such as prevention of child and forced

labour, human rights and health & safety) and

environmental protection. In order to manage the social

and environmental risks in our supply chain more

systematically, the Supplier Code of Conduct is

formulated and communicated to the suppliers through

tendering documents and also sent to our significant

suppliers to obtain their acknowledgement.

We also introduced a supplier self-assessment checklist

to monitor the environmental and social performance

status for our selected suppliers at Group level. The

suppliers are required to fill in the checklist every three

years to keep us informed on their compliance status

and any improvement.

Our 2019 Progress - We researched about the supply chain

management approach in the hospitality sector, in

the region, and also in other sectors to learn more

about the best sustainable practices.

Moving Forward We will first review our internal policies and guidelines

based on the CONNECT 2030 strategy, and how these

are reflected on our existing Supplier Code of Conduct

and assessment. We must work closer with our current

suppliers and explore innovative partners in order to

achieve our 2030 goals. In the long term, our supply

chain management approach will be more advanced

with technological support and the collaboration with

the industry.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

12

Caring for Our Colleagues COLLEAGUES ARE PROUD OF WORKING WITH US

Strategy and Goals

We are committed to fostering an engaging and

respectful work environment for our colleagues to

unleash their full potential and inspire them to become

our true ambassadors. Our commitment is supported

by the following systems that set out the guiding

principles, review our performance, promote an open

dialogue culture, and grow our talents and put them in

the right direction to advance their careers.

Human Resources policies stipulate a global

framework for an ethical workforce and colleague

engagement;

Training programmes enable our colleagues to

deliver their job and embrace the company culture;

A workplace health and safety management system

ensures the safety of our colleagues;

Internal communication channels connect our

colleagues at different levels and across functions

to strengthen teamwork;

Performance appraisals review performance of

individual colleagues to set clear goals aligned with

their hotel’s objectives;

A KPI system monitors the effectiveness of our

systems in achieving our commitments.

We have around 8,000 colleagues in 2019. Our

company has been growing and creating an average of

500 direct employed jobs every year. We also observe

the challenges of retaining our talents and attracting

new people into the hospitality sector as the world

changes and our industry transforms. We must

continue to adapt to remain competitive and relevant.

We will reinforce our company employer branding

through engaging our colleagues contractually,

experientially and emotionally through the entire

employment life cycle. Eventually, we want our

colleagues to be proud of working with us and we

remain employer of choice.

In the coming years, we will focus on the following

three critical components:

ENHANCE A FAIR AND EQUAL

WORKING ENVIRONMENT to attract and

retain modern talents

CULTIVATE A LEARNING MINDSET

amongst colleagues that enable them to stay

relevant and confident

FOSTER A CARING, INCLUSIVE AND

COLLABORATIVE WORKPLACE

CULTURE where synergy comes from

diversity of thoughts and mutual respect

Fair and Equal Working Environment

Respect for employee rights is fundamental to our

human resources principles. As clearly stated in our

Group Employee Rights and Equal Opportunities

Policy, we are committed to a fair working

environment that is free of discrimination, harassment,

bullying and victimisation.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

13

We also promote equal access to employment. We

recruit and develop individuals solely on the basis of

their suitability for the job, regardless of gender, age,

nationality, religion or disability. We monitor our

diversity profile through our workforce profile report

including the distribution of gender, minorities and

local hiring information.

We prioritise hiring the general workforce from the

local community or country. We sometimes recruit

expatriates meaning those colleagues who require a

work visa. Their overseas’ hotel experiences and

knowledge are critical to our business development

and are essential to groom our local workforces for

future success.

We continue to encourage the integration of employees

with disabilities by offering them career opportunities

and also implemented initiatives to address their

special needs in the workplace. Hong Chi Association

in Hong Kong is our long-term partner with our hotels

in Hong Kong. They are a non-profit making

organization in Hong Kong dedicated to serving people

of all ages and all grades of intellectual disabilities and

their families. Some of their trainees are our long

serving employees in the company.

The Langham, Huntington, Pasadena partners and recruits

through Ability First, which helps people with disabilities

achieve their personal best throughout their lives.

2019 Progress - 119 out of 311 (38%) senior executives were female

whereas 192 (62%) were male. One female member

was on our group executive management team.

This shows that we recruit and develop individuals

solely on the basis of their suitability for the job,

regardless of gender, age, nationality, religion or

disability.

- We employed 55 colleagues (0.7% of overall

workforce) with disabilities in a variety of roles that

could effectively draw on their talent and abilities.

2017 2018 2019

Workforce

Total employees 8,172 8,574 8,148

Full time employees 91% 92% 91%

Permanent employees 95% 93% 96%

Gender

Female employees 49% 50% 49%

Male Employees 51% 50% 51%

2017 2018 2019

Age

<20 3% 4% 4%

20-29 37% 35% 35%

30-39 26% 27% 26%

40-49 18% 18% 18%

50 or above 16% 16% 17%

Total percentage of

Expatriates from overall

workforce

3% 3% 3%

Senior Executive 14% 14% 14%

General Workforce 2.8% 2.9% 2.8%

Total percentage of

Senior Executive from

overall workforce

3.8% 3.8% 3.8%

Male Senior Executive 2.3% 2.6% 2.4%

Female Senior

Executive

1.5% 1.7% 1.5%

Total percentage of

colleagues with

disabilities from overall

workforce

0.6% 0.7% 0.7%

Moving Forward We will review our policies and guidelines to ensure

consistent delivery of a fair and equal working

environment for our colleagues across the whole group.

We will conduct market benchmarking to identify areas

for improvement to enhance our compensation

competitiveness to attract and retain talents. We will

also look into gender representation parity for global

company workforce.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

14

Professional & Personal

Development

We are committed to creating an environment for our

colleagues to achieve their career aspiration and at the

same time nurturing a team of competent and

motivated colleagues. Our groupwide learning and

development programmes are made up of the First60

Certification programme, Langham Curriculum

Certification (LCC), and Advanced Programme for

Executives (APEX). These programmes help our

colleagues gain new skills and experiences which they

need to deliver in their current and future jobs.

Colleague performance is evaluated and benchmarked

annually through our performance management

system PRIDE (Performance Results Indicator &

Development Engine). Colleagues are assessed based

on their goal achievements and competency

attainments during the year. A training and

development plan will be designed accordingly to

elevate their performance to the next level. Besides

assessing performance, PRIDE also identifies peak

performers, who will be put in the talent pool of the

succession planning system and a high potential

database. Peak performers are given exposure to

different functions, taking up special assignments to

accumulate skills and experiences in wider disciplines.

2019 Progress - The fifth intake for APEX commenced in 2019 with

eight candidates from various hotels which focused

on the development of future Hotel Managers and

General Managers.

- We provided approximately five days of training

per colleague. There is an increase in the training

hours per employee compared to the previous two

reporting years due to the launch of “Data

Protection Awareness Training” and new hotel

openings.

- The percentage of employees receiving

performance reviews is slightly higher than

previous year to keep up with our PRIDE system.

KPI 2017 2018 2019

Training hours per employee 34.1 36.0 44.0

Senior Executive 24.8 23.3 22.2

General Workforce 34.5 36.6 45.9

% employee received

performance review

87 78 84

Group Corporate Office organised Dialogue Experience -

Dark Workshop aimed at enhancing empathy,

communication, innovation, and collaboration

The Langham, Hong Kong organised the Graduate Trainee

and Food & Beverage Supervisory Trainees Programmes in

2019 to develop and retain younger talents.

Moving Forward We will continue to update our signature training

programmes such as LCC and APEX, not only the

content but also the technology enabling more

interactive approach in a timely manner. We will also

introduce more group wide compliance trainings such

as anti-corruption and human trafficking.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

15

Caring, Inclusive and Collaborative

(CIC) Culture

Caring for our colleagues begins with the health, safety

and wellness of our colleagues. Our Group

Occupational Health and Safety Policy ensures that all

hotels maintain their health and safety systems that are

consistent with local operating conditions and

legislation, ensuring that our colleagues are able do

their work safely. The senior management, human

resources directors and security departments oversee

these systems. The effectiveness of the system is

monitored together with the Key Performance

Indicators (KPI) system so that our improvement teams

can effectively analyse the data, detect problem root

causes, run improvement action plans and follow up on

the results.

We promoted the wellness of colleagues globally

through annual Global CONNECT events, such as

Colleague Wellness Week and the 10,000 steps

challenge during Loving Earth Month. The Colleague

Wellness Week, for example, was dedicated to

promoting a wellness culture and engaging colleagues

in becoming happier, healthier, and more energetic

people at the workplace. Wellness promotion

programmes included, colleague health screening, info

sessions on financial wellness and mental health,

vistance health challenge, and various exercises classes

like Zumba, Salsa, meditation and yoga. Healthy food

was also included in the colleague canteen menu with

rainbow coloured diet, superfoods, fresh fruit and

smoothies.

Communication is one of our core values. We

encourage open communication to create an inclusive

and collaborative workplace culture for our colleagues.

We ensure effective dialogue with our colleagues

proactively by using a variety of communication

channels such as SHOWTIME (daily briefing session),

Daily Legend (daily newsletter), Town hall meetings

and our intranet to communication clearly. We engage

with colleagues informally through social media,

annual parties, and outings to enhance their sense of

belonging.

Townhall Meeting at Cordis, Beijing Capital Airport

We also engage our colleagues more formally through

the annual Colleague Satisfaction Survey at all hotels,

conducted by an independent research company. The

survey provides us with the opportunity to obtain

feedback from our colleagues on key issues, and

measure employee engagement.

2019 Progress - We are pleased to observe a slight drop in lost time

injury frequency rate however an increase in the

incident. There were no deaths due to work

activities.

KPI 2017 2018 2019

Lost time injury frequency

rate (LTIFR)1

12.2 13.1 12.9

Incident rate2 5.6 5.5 7.2 1. LTIFR is the number of reported lost-time accidents for every 1 million

working hours.

2. Incident rate is the number of reported accidents per 100 employees.

Colleague Wellness Week in Shanghai with teams from both

Cordis and The Langham.

- Colleague Wellness Week 2019 was successfully

organised at each hotel. For example, The

Langham, London packed the week with activities

that promote physical, mental and emotional

wellbeing with steps challenge, ‘Peaceful Escape’

room, dog therapy, couch/chair/Thai massages,

chiropody, yoga, self-defence class, healthy eating

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

16

workshop and donation of unwanted items to

Passage, the charity for the homeless.

Colleague Wellness Week at Langham Place, Haining.

- We measured colleague engagement level in order

to continue to help us to become a great place to

work with engaged and committed colleagues. We

invited all eligible colleagues from all our hotels to

participate in the 2019 My Colleague Survey and

95% responded. This survey found that levels of

colleague engagement continue to remain high

with a score of 90% which was 2% points higher

than the 2018 score.

- Founding of Diversity and Inclusion Party, which

is our internal council working together in

developing our Diversity & Inclusion priorities,

policies and programmes for the company.

Moving Forward Consistent and effective communications amongst

colleagues with the group is vital. We will develop and

activate a more focused cultural programme to engage

our colleagues in embracing the Caring, Inclusive and

Collaborative mindset and advocate living these values

daily.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

17

Caring for Our Community CREATE SHARE VALUE WITH THE COMMUNITY

Strategy and Goals

We take our community investment seriously. We may

have a presence in major cities around the world, but

our hotels operate locally and have built long-term

relationships with their neighbourhoods. We

formalised our community investment programme by

the issuance of Community Engagement Policy in 2013.

“Environment, Children and Art” became the key

themes of our community projects. We also defined

“community service hours by colleagues” as a key

performance indicator for all our hotels. Our

community partnership programme flourishes in each

location.

Total Community Service Hours 2012 vs 2019

+95%

Total Donations (USD) 2012 vs 2019

+26%

We see how our teams contribute to local communities,

not simply through philanthropy, but also in other

ways including donations and visits, free or in-kind

sponsorships and employee volunteering. Our

partnerships have addressed various social problems

which are significant to local society, including

underprivileged families, child development, youth

education, homelessness, elderly issues, women’s

rights, children with disabilities, environment, and

cancer research among others. Whilst continuing our

support for these partnerships, we re-structured our

group community strategy to embrace our CONNECT

purpose with more focus on the impact outcome.

Impact Driven However, we also question our work to date. Does more

hours or more money donated mean we have made a change?

We first restricted the definition of community service

hours that could be accountable for the KPI because we

want our hotels to make use of these hours to create

impactful projects. Our team spent more time

understanding the needs of our local partners and

partnerships evolved subsequently were more

meaningful. From then on, we had more positive

stories. Employee volunteering with a powerful impact

is a key factor to create shared value with the local

community and our colleagues. We will also aim to

establish the best way to maximise our capabilities to

meet the local needs.

Purpose Driven Our CONNECT purpose is “to enhance the social

interaction and bonding in an evolving world.” We are

in a business that is passionate about people. We house

travellers who explore a destination away from home.

We cultivate the best dining and banquet experience for

our guests and their companions. We hold the space

for creative events to derive business opportunities and

social networking. We bring in customers so they can

interact with our neighbours. To achieve these, we

have a team of committed colleagues striving for

excellence in both service and products.

As the world evolves with accelerated globalization,

technological advancement, social and cultural shifts,

people have more options to travel, celebrate, dine, and

network with each other. Excellence in service and

products only, are not good enough. We are

responsible to ensure our neighbourhood is an

attractive location to welcome people from everywhere.

We are supporting locals by sourcing local products

and services, showcasing the uniqueness of our

neighbourhood including the history, culture and

nature.

Not only places, we also believe that people are unique.

We respect every individual and believe that this is the

essential value of bringing different individuals

together. We want to share our global knowledge and

local experiences to inspire millions of youth and

future talents to embrace differences who are our

future guests, colleagues and neighbours.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

18

We travel much more often than the past generations

had and see the tourism business boom of the last few

decades. Our industry is contributing to the various

social and environmental problems such as

overtourism, cultural conflict, and climate crisis.

Tourism cannot be sustainable if we travel like business

as usual. Conscious travellers should go mainstream.

We are committed to inspire millions of people to be

conscious travellers.

Most importantly, we want to inspire positive change

for our society and environment. We want to create

shared values amongst our colleagues, stakeholders

and wider community through our operations and

influence on others.

COLLEAGUE VOLUNTEERING FOCUS

ON IMPACT- AND SKILL-BASED

SUPPORT LOCALS

INSPIRE MILLION YOUTH AND FUTURE

TALENTS TO EMBRACE DIFFERENCES

ENGAGE MILLIONS PEOPLE TO BE

CONSCIOUS TRAVELLERS

Colleague Volunteering

Colleague volunteering is an integral part of our

CONNECT culture to drive social bonding internally

and stimulate interaction with the local community.

Art, Children, Environment and Local Issues are the

key themes of our volunteering programmes. In the

past decade, we have introduced several measures to

build this culture within the group. Key drivers are a

key performance indicator (community service hours)

and the annual Global CONNECT Events.

The result was very encouraging and certain benefits of

employee volunteering were observed: stronger

teamwork with better internal communication,

improved colleague engagement, and the building of

brand awareness. Hotels have also maintained strong

relationships with local community organisations.

Global CONNECT Event 2016 (CONNECT Partnership Award)

Global CONNECT Event 2018 (CONNECT to Community Day)

Our 2019 Progress - In 2019, we set the group-wide goal at 1.0 hour of

community service per full-time employee per

year. We reached 1.12 hours, which means over

9,100 hours in total.

Soap-cycling volunteer activity in Shenzhen

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

19

- Our hotels also implemented a pilot project to

conduct a community impact assessment on their

partnership as the annual Global CONNECT Event

2019.

Community Impact Assessment Pilot Project by The

Langham, New York, Fifth Avenue with their partner the

HOPE Program which empowers underprivileged New

Yorkers to build sustainable futures through comprehensive

training, jobs, advancement and lifelong career support.

Langham Hospitality Group and the two hotels in

Hong Kong received Caring Company Award by Hong

Kong Council of Social Service. Both The Langham and

Cordis in Hong Kong received 10 years achievement.

Moving Forward As our average community service hours have

exceeded our target in the past five years, our

passionate colleagues have successfully built a strong

culture of giving back to the community. We will focus

on more impact and purpose-driven programmes in

the coming years.

Supporting Locals

We support local communities through our operations

and charity partnerships. We encourage recruiting the

right talents, and buying products and services from

the local area for our hotels. This is professionally

evaluated by the EarthCheck benchmarking exercise

every year. We also work closely with local charity

partners like local food rescue charities to collect the

surplus food from our kitchens to make delicious meals

for the less fortunate.

Whilst we will continue our local charity works, we

would like to expand our support to local businesses by

sourcing our food produce locally. Local food sourcing

not only helps support the small business holders in the

area and but also minimises the carbon footprint of our

dishes. We are committed to have at least 50% of our

menu to be sourced from local farm, fisheries or

homegrown.

Our 2019 Progress - The Langham, Melbourne's Melba Restaurant

introduced Season's Harvest at breakfast, lunch &

dinner, which celebrates and promotes fresh &

local produce from all over Victoria, Australia.

More than 70% of the fresh produce served at

Melba Restaurant are from Victoria. Diners will be

able to see where many of the ingredients come

from by reading the labels at Melba's open kitchen.

- The Langham, Chicago organised a collaborative

dinner at Granor Farm using the best ingredients

grown on this farm. A portion of proceeds

benefited Plant Chicago in supporting their market

and education programme.

- Cordis, Auckland also successfully harvested their

exclusive Cordis Honey from our very own rooftop

beehive.

Moving Forward We will first have to conclude the definition of local

sourcing which varies from region to region. We

would also like to explore the opportunity in

supporting local start-ups that are food-related, such as

plant-based alternatives, and modern agriculture

technology.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

20

Engaged with Conscious Travellers

We are all guests of the Earth. More than a decade ago,

every hotel began with the standard towel and linen

reuse card to invite our guests joining our journey to

save the environment. Five years later, we offered

“CONNECT Conferences” sustainable meeting options

to our meeting clients. But we have not advanced our

guests engagement in sustainable travel ever since.

2018 project partnership between the United Nations

Development Programme and Ctrip our hotels in China

encouraged guests to reuse hotel in-room daily amenities.

Do you know tourism is responsible for 8% of global

greenhouse gas emission 1? According to a recent

study on Future Traveller Tribes 2030, it suggests that

Ethical Travellers segment is one of the six new tribes

of travellers in the future. With these insights, this is

1 https://www.carbonbrief.org/tourism-responsible-for-

8-of-global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-study-finds

the best time to invite and influence more people to be

conscious travellers.

Our 2019 Progress - Our annual Loving Earth month events aim at

encouraging an eco-friendly lifestyle to our guests

and colleagues. All hotels kicked off the month

with Earth Hour, the global “lights out” campaign,

followed by meatless or sustainable seafood dishes

promoted in their restaurants and colleague

cafeterias throughout the Loving Earth month.

Yoga in the dark with guests during Earth Hour at The

Langham, Haikou

- Cordis, Hong Kong launched the new “Green

Meetings by Cordis” program, offering meeting

planners sustainable meeting solutions that offset

environmental and social impacts from their

events. This program features green meeting

venues, sustainable food and beverage, and carbon-

neutral meetings. The carbon footprint of the

conference is calculated and offset via our partner.

A carbon-neutral certificate will be presented to the

company at the start of the meeting.

- To encourage our guests to bring their own

reusable water bottles, Cordis, Hong Kong installed

a “Water for Free” refilling station in the hotel

lobby.

- Cordis, Hong Kong was the venue sponsor and

host of the first G.R.E.E.N. Hospitality Conference

in Hong Kong, which promotes dialogues between

all related industries in the hospitality sector, to

improve sustainability measures.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

21

- The Langham, Sydney set-up two branded reusable

to-go coffee cups for our guests to use throughout

their stay.

- Langham Place, Guangzhou introduced JUST

plant-based eggs to the city. The plant-based eggs

are made from mung beans, which contain zero

cholesterol, and effectively reduces carbon

emissions and water usage.

Moving Forward We will engage both our colleagues and guests to be

conscious travellers. We will activate our internal

colleague engagement programmes and some of our

guests programmes (such as Guests of the Earth and

CONNECT Conferences) to embrace this issue. The

primary focus of these programmes is on how we can

travel more climate-friendly and waste (plastic)-free.

Inspire to Embrace Differences

We welcome everyone to visit our hotels or join us as a

team member. It is in our culture DNA to respect

individual as well as embrace the differences amongst

us. However, we understand that differences are not

only limited to religion, sex, ethnicity, race, disability,

age, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We are

responsible to grow our business to be more inclusive

and share our values with our next generation.

By leveraging on our local influence, coupled with

global experience, we will take a proactive approach to

ensure our values and commitment to diversity and

inclusion reflect in the way we do our business. We

hope to positively have an impact on the lives of our

future talents and inspire millions of our guests and

business partners.

We will first focus on these three commitments in our

workplace:

- Multi-generation: we have four or five generations

(e.g. baby boomer, Generation X, Gen Y or

Millennials, Gen Z) working side by side for the

first time in history.

- Gender: we have an average 50/50 gender parity in

our workplace but not in certain roles and

functions.

- People who are physically or mentally

challenged: a few of our hotels have their long

service colleagues who are physically or mentally

challenged. We appreciate and proactively engage

this group of potential talents to join our company.

We will build collaborative relationships to maximise

colleagues’ potentials in a motivated working

environment.

Our 2019 Progress - Founding of Diversity and Inclusion Party, which

is our internal council working together in

developing our Diversity & Inclusion priorities,

policies and programmes for the company.

- The Langham, Sydney along with Pink Hope,

hosted an event called "Women who Lead". The

event brought together a group of five inspirational

and powerful women on a panel to discuss life and

women's health.

- Luwan Special Needs School is our long-term

community partner with The Langham, Shanghai,

Xintiandi. We invited their students to have two

sessions of professional job skills trainings such as

shirt-folding and bed-making by our volunteers.

We hope to equip students with the hospitality

skills, which will be useful for them when they join

the workforce.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

22

- The Langham, Huntington, Pasadena included

“Transgender Rights in the Workplace” into the

Preventing Workplace Harassment and Decimation

training for our colleagues. This session provided

detailed scenarios and responses to adequate

means to support transgender guests and

colleagues.

Moving Forward With the support of the newly established Diversity

and Inclusion Party team, we first need to align our

expectation and definition on diversity and inclusion

internally by developing our policy and guidelines. We

would also cultivate group-wide awareness on

workplace inclusiveness to ensure we walk the talk

before influencing our partners and future talents.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

23

Protecting Our Environment REDUCE OUR IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT BY HALF

Strategy and Goals

Protecting the environment has been the core value of

our company and our colleagues since 2008, before the

birth of the CONNECT Programme. We now operate

our hotels more energy efficiently and are more

resource conscious as compared to 10 years ago

because of the stronger environmental commitment

among our leaders, colleagues, guests and business

partners.

However, we experienced more frequent extreme

weather events, which were the result of climate

change as explained by many researchers. Our

colleagues organised repeated clean up because the

beaches, rivers, and ocean are covered by more plastic

waste than ever. We, together with our guests and

stakeholders, must take a step forward in order to keep

the Earth inhabitable for our future generations.

In the next decade, we will focus on four critical areas

to reduce our impact on the environment by half.

REDUCE CARBON INTENSITY BY HALF

to be in line with the Paris Agreement

Targets.

REDUCE WATER INTENSITY BY HALF

particularly for hotels at water stressed areas.

ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL and

significantly reducing waste intensity by at

least half within our operations.

COMMIT TO SUSTAINABLE SOURCING

BY HALF including food and seafood, paper,

textiles, chemicals, and personal care

products.

We believe that sustainability must be integrated into

our business activity along the value chain across all

brands and properties. In the coming years, we will

enhance our policies, standards and guidance

throughout our entire business life cycle from site

selection, design and build, procurement, operation

and disposal in order to achieve these environmental

goals.

Sustainable Operations “Walking the talk” is the

core value to be embraced in

our systems and our

initiatives. Since 2012, we

have stipulated our direction

with the mandatory key

performance indicator for all

our hotels – to achieve

EarthCheck certification.

EarthCheck is the leading international sustainability

benchmarking and certification service for the travel

and tourism industry. The EarthCheck standards align

with international frameworks such as the International

Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), Global

Reporting Initiatives (GRI) and industry practices such

as the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC).

Our hotels are therefore assessed and verified by

independent third party auditors regularly to drive

continuous improvement in sustainable operations.

Some of these environmental goals will be embedded

into EarthCheck certification system.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

24

Sustainable Hotel Design We will revamp the Sustainable Hotel Design

Guidelines which is part of our Design Control

Document. The Guidelines define our minimum

sustainable design requirements upon the project

development and refurbishment of our hotels and

resorts for the different brands. We will also require

our future hotel development projects to meet the

International and/or Local Green Building Standards

such as EarthCheck Building Planning and Design

Standard and USGBC LEED Certification, adding to

our portfolio2 of green design hotels.

2 The Langham, Chicago is USGBC LEED Gold Rating and Cordis,

Shanghai, Hongqiao received China Green Building Design

Certification (2 Star).

Climate Change

Climate crisis is the biggest global challenge in the

current century. If an average global temperature

increase of more than 2 °C from pre-industrial levels,

we will encounter catastrophic consequences for

human beings and nature. Scientists have warned us

that we have already reached 1°C and we do not have

much time to reach the tipping point. All of our

emissions must be reduced by at least 50% by 2030 and

reach nearly net zero carbon emissions by 2050 to stay

within the 2 °C trajectory.

For more than a decade, we have been focusing on

operating our hotels with maximising energy efficiency

to minimise our greenhouse gas emission. From time

to time, our Engineers identify energy saving

opportunities through optimising the operational

efficiency of plant and equipment, and upgrading

systems when there is a major refurbishment. On-site

renewable energy sources such as solar panels have

been installed in a number of our new built hotels and

resorts in China. Since we first monitored our energy

performance in 2011, our energy intensity (energy use

per square meter) decreased by 34% in 2019 as

compared to that of 2011 even though the number of

hotels were increased by more than twofold.

Carbon intensity 2011 vs 2019

-27% kg per sqm

Energy intensity 2011 vs 2019

-34% MJ per sqm

In the next ten years or so, we must go beyond simply

cutting our emissions. We are setting targets to

minimise our direct and indirect carbon emissions, in

line with the Paris Agreement to help our planet stay

below the 1.5 °C global warming limit. We want to

become Climate Net Zero hotel operators eventually,

and we will first reduce our carbon emission per floor

area by at least 50% by 2030. We may not have all the

decarbonisation solutions yet, but we have identified

the following three key priorities for action in the

coming years.

- 1st Priority is to increase efficiency to reduce energy

intensity by at least 50%;

- 2nd Priority is transition to electrified equipment in

phases; and

- 3rd Priority is to switch to green power and on-site

renewable energy.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

25

We also believe in that our influence to our

stakeholders, especially our guests and supply chain,

can boost the climate action altogether. One of our

community partnership focus is to inspire a million

people to be conscious travellers. We will work with

different partners to help spread the low-carbon travel

messages and most importantly, turn these messages

into action.

For example, we understand that meatless and dairy-

free diet can contribute to greenhouse gas reduction.

Therefore, we have been partnering with Green

Monday in Hong Kong to advocate plant-based living

since 2013. In 2019, our partnership was extended to

the Greater China region. We introduced “Omnipork”

as the black-boxed item at the Rising Star Chinese

Culinary Competition, which is our annual event to

enhance the professionalism of the young Chinese chefs

3 According to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Scope 1 emissions is

Direct GHG emissions occur from sources that are owned or

at our hotels. Our talented chefs demonstrated their

creativity in using this brand new plant-based

alternative in the market for traditional Cantonese

dishes. However, we are committed to do a lot more to

achieve our 2030 goals – at least 50% of our menu to be

plant-based.

Our 2019 Progress Our energy consumption is primarily composed of

electricity from grid, natural gas, diesel, purchased

steam and chilled water in our 22 properties. In 2019,

the overall energy consumption decreased by 0.5% over

2018 due to the closure of our hotel in Boston for full

renovation, although we had the addition of our first

resort in China.

Beginning in 2019, we changed the measurement of

energy intensity to the energy consumed per total floor

area in our hotels, instead of per guest night. We have

identified that the energy consumption is more

dependent on the floor area we operated as the

substantial energy use is the 24/7 heat ventilation and

air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Our energy intensity

in 2019 decreased by 7% from 2018 due to our energy

efficient improvement projects.

In 2019, carbon equivalent emissions (Scope 1 and 23)

associated with our energy used increased by 3% and

the carbon intensity decreased by 3% as compared with

the previous reporting year. The trend is different from

the energy use because The Langham, Boston has been

controlled by the company; Scope 2 accounts for GHG emissions

from the generation of purchased electricity consumed by the

company.

using green electricity and is a contributor in our total

carbon emission.

Energy consumption and its intensity during 2011-2019

Carbon emission and its intensity during 2011-2019

In 2019, our hotels continued to focus on LED light

retrofitting and HVAC systems upgrading which

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

26

helped to improve the electricity efficiency

significantly. The following are the highlights:

- Cordis, Hong Kong upgraded the Building

Management System (BMS) to manage the chiller

plant more efficiently and installed the heat

recovery system for laundry steam boiler for heat

exchange.

- The Langham, Hong Kong installed over 2,000 LED

lights and enhanced the air-conditioning system in

the guestroom area.

- The Langham, Huntington, Pasadena has

decommissioned the aged laundry system,

installed VFD Drives in the Central Plant,

upgraded dishwasher and Hot Water Recirculation

System which enhanced overall efficiencies.

Moving Forward Climate Change will be the top priority of the Group’s

Strategy. Together with the help of expert scientific

organisations such as EarthCheck, we will identify our

Science Based Targets. But first, we need to ensure the

accuracy and completeness of our emission data,

especially Scope 3 emission4 (including purchased

goods and services, employee commuting).

As we continue to increase the energy efficiency of our

operations at the same time, new opportunities are

difficult to find unless another break-through

technology like LED lighting is introduced in the next

few years. We will accelerate the renewables uptake in

4 According to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Scope 3 emissions

(other indirect GHG emissions) are a consequence of the activities of

our energy demand side at locations where fossil-free

alternatives are available.

the company, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the

company.

Water

Water crisis are in the top global risks. According to

the UN Environment study, demand for fresh water is

likely to exceed supply by 40% in 2030, and half of the

world’s population will be living in areas of severe

water stress by this time. The impacts of climate change

including extreme droughts and floods has increasingly

threatened local water availability.

Our hotels are located in top travel destinations, which

can be those most prone to water shortage, particularly

where the tourist season overlaps with the driest

months. Hotel operations heavily rely on water for

hygiene, cooking and air-conditioning purposes.

Therefore, water use per guest in hotels often exceeds

that of the local population.

In the past decade, we have worked to reduce our

water footprint by installing water-efficient equipment

across our properties, and raising staff awareness on

water conservation. However, we could not deliver the

results as we expected. We tracked our water usage for

the entire portfolio since 2011 and our water intensity

(water use per guest night) increased by 9% in 2019 as

compared to that of 2011.

The development of modern luxury hotels and resorts

includes larger swimming pools, spa, food and

beverage area, and larger, indulgent bath and shower

facilities in guest rooms. All these add up to boost the

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

27

water use per guest night. On the other hand, over 90%

of our hotels are and will be operating at high water

stressed area in the next ten years based on our water

risk analysis. Our hotels are likely prone to water

shortage that will have significant impact on our

service delivery.

We cannot simply follow the conventional approach of

monitoring water consumption and efficiency. We

must take bolder actions to make our hotels ready for

the future. We are committed to reducing our water

use per guest night by 50% in 2030. We have

identified the following three key priorities to ensure

we achieved our goal in the coming years.

- 1st Priority is overall water risk assessment on our

current and upcoming properties;

- 2nd Priority is to increase operational efficiency to

reduce our overall water intensity by at least 25%,

with higher reduction goal in extremely high water

stressed area;

- 3rd Priority is collaboration and transition to water

circularity on-site or locally by phase 2.

We will carefully plan our internal water operational

efficiency programme through retrofitting, major

renovation and new built eco-friendly design to meet

our enhanced efficiency requirement. We will also

work with industry groups and experts to accelerate

wider progress on water use and circularity.

Our 2019 Progress Our fresh water is primarily sourced and discharged

via the local municipal water facilities as our properties

are located in urban or suburban areas. Our hotels in

Hong Kong, together with most of the businesses and

residents, use seawater for toilet flushing as part of the

public infrastructure. Grease trap is installed typically

in our hotels to pre-treat water discharged from food

and beverage areas before it is disposed of at the

municipal sewer systems.

In 2019, our total annual water consumption for all

hotels has decreased by 2% compared to prior year due

to the closure of our hotel in Boston for full renovation,

although we had an addition of our first resort opening

in China. Water intensity (water consumed per guest

night) is increased by 2%. We observed the continuous

improved efficiency among our hotels in North

America, Europe and the Pacific regions along the

years, but not yet in the China and Hong Kong regions.

Water consumption and its intensity during 2011-2017

Some highlights of our water saving initiatives in 2019:

- Cordis, Hong Kong replaced the shower heads in

the guest rooms with a more water efficient type,

with a reduction in flow rate to 9.5 litres per

minute.

- The Langham, London implemented a Leak

management program and changed the handheld

showers in guest rooms with flow restrictors.

- The Langham, Huntington, Pasadena modified to

subterranean irrigation, and adopted drought-

tolerant landscaping. The hotel also

decommissioned its aging laundry facility.

Moving Forward Water is often not considered a valuable resource in

many locations where we operate, and often being

under-valued. Our experience told us that the Return

on Investment (ROI) in water efficiency initiatives takes

a much longer time to achieve when compared to

energy efficiency or waste recycling projects. We will

work with experts to better understand our local water

risks and contexts.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

28

We also identified that the luxury hospitality sector

tends to be higher water intensive than other hotel

types. There are opportunities for innovation to reduce

water use and introduce water recycling while

maintaining the high quality of our guest experience.

Waste Management

Proper waste management has always been our prime

concern since the beginning of our sustainability

journey. Our waste stream is divided primarily into

the following areas:

- Operational waste – from the kitchen (organic food

waste, packaging, aluminium cans, plastic/glass

bottles, wine corks and cooking oils), guestrooms

(newspaper, plastics water bottles, coffee capsule,

packaging, used soap and amenities), public areas

(general refuse), and back of house areas

(hazardous waste, chemical containers, toner

cartridges, paper and cardboard waste, food

waste);

- Refurbishment and renovation projects –

furniture, white goods, computers, household

electronic equipment (hair dryer, steam iron,

television, speakers), mattresses, pillows, cushion,

and textiles (bed linen and towels, curtains, staff

uniforms).

In the last decade, recycling was our focus with the aim

to ease waste management problems. This did not help

much in protecting the environment, particularly to our

marine system. We saw thousands and millions of

pieces of plastic floating on our ocean, beaches, and

rivers. We also understood that sending waste to other

countries for recycling or other treatments is not the

best solution. We must take a different approach.

We launched the ‘phase out’ plan of single use plastics

among all our hotels two years ago. Instead of

recycling, we must look into the “Reduce” and “Reuse”

options first. This is the key principles when our hotels

search for the eco-friendly alternatives to replace those

single-use plastic items. By end of 2019, all our hotels

have phased out eleven plastic items including straws,

cocktail sticks, stirrers, takeaway

containers/cutlery/bags, coffee cup lids, etc.. We aim at

phasing out all the remaining disposable plastic items

including amenities and bottled water in guestrooms

by 2022. We will also look into eliminating other

applicable single use disposable items by 2025.

Another waste component that we will focus on is food

waste, which is also the heaviest portion of our regular

waste stream. We are also keen on minimising our

food waste being disposed of at landfill or incineration.

From menu reengineering to surplus food donation, we

are determined to minimise the food waste generation.

For organic material which are not edible, we either

apply food waste management technology or food

waste collector to compost our food waste into

environmental safe water, animal feed or soil

conditioner. We will send zero food waste to landfill

by 2022.

Our ambition is sending zero waste to landfill by

2030. This means we minimise our waste generation at

all times including those from our daily operations, and

the bulky and construction waste during renovation.

We are therefore also committed to reduce our waste

intensity and food waste generation by half in 2030.

This will leave us minimal waste which will be

recycled, composted, and lastly incinerated.

Another critical factor to achieve our ambitious 2030

goal is working closely along our value chain including

our guests and suppliers. Not only will we engage

them to be part of our zero waste journey, but also

bring in circularity in products and packaging. Our

community theme “Engaged with Conscious

Travellers” and “Sustainable Sourcing” to be described

in next chapter will go hand in hand with our

operation. By creating a circular economy around

resources, rather than a linear one, we can all benefit

from improved environmental outcomes.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

29

Our 2019 Progress Like many other businesses, we have been

implementing waste minimisation initiatives including

recycling/reusing (paper, metal, plastics, cardboard,

glass bottles, cooking oil, printer cartridges, wet

amenities, soap, wine corks), food waste donation and

composting, and used items donation (furniture, fabric

items, electronic equipment). The remaining waste is

being sent to the local municipality facilities for landfill

and/or incineration.

We have been collecting waste-related data across our

portfolio since 2011. However, the overall data quality

on both the waste to landfill and recycled materials is

mixed. For some hotels, the compilation of accurate

data with proof from various waste and recyclable

collectors can be very challenging. This will be our

primary focus in 2020 to establish a robust and

transparent waste data collection system to improve the

overall data quality.

Based on the current available dataset, our total annual

waste disposed of at landfill for all hotels was nearly

6.4 tonnes in 2019. This shows a decrease by 3%

compared to prior year due to the closure of our hotel

in Boston for full renovation since March 2019.

Some highlights of our waste reduction initiatives in

2019:

- Starting in 2019, our hotels located in certain

regions in China (e.g. Shanghai, Guangzhou,

Ningbo) provide disposable in-room amenities (e.g.

toothbrush, toothpaste, nail file, razor, shaving

cream, comb) to guests only upon request with the

new local government requirements. It is a

significant step in the right direction to reduce

waste and be mindful of the role hotels play in this

important journey towards sustainable luxury.

- All our hotels continued phasing out the single-use

plastics items. We also conducted some trials on

the new design of plastic-free alternatives to

understand the guest feedback, including dispenser

in guestrooms, and umbrella dryer machines in

public area.

- Sustainable Christmas Tree Competition is the

finale of our annual Global CONNECT Events.

Our hotels designed and built Christmas trees

using recycled/waste materials collected from the

hotels. This year winners are our hotels in Haikou,

London, Melbourne, and Shanghai Xintiandi.

Moving Forward We understand the waste issues and are determined to

find solutions to prevent all different types of waste

from being sent to landfill. Many of our wastes could

be valuable resources for others. We will need to

eliminate those unnecessary wastage, and maximise

circularity along the value chain to stop deteriorating

our natural habitat. We cannot do it alone but we will

team up with innovative solution provides, industry

players and local community and work together to

address this global issue.

Sustainable Sourcing

Sustainable sourcing is not new to us but this focus area

has become a much more important component to

enable us to be a sustainability leader in the industry.

We have developed our Responsible Purchasing Policy

and Guidelines since 2013. Additionally, EarthCheck

certification requires our hotels to consider local

sourcing and using green power and eco-labelled

products, including paper products, cleaning

chemicals, and pesticides.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

30

We have started to work closely with our seafood

suppliers for years to increase the procurement of

seafood sourced sustainably. Like many other hotels

and restaurants, we started our sustainable seafood

journey by firstly, not serving endangered species like

blue fin tuna and shark fin dishes. Our hotels also

partnered with local green groups and suppliers to

increase the use of sustainable seafood on the menu.

Alibi at Cordis, Hong Kong is our first restaurant

which offers 100% sustainable seafood.

We will align the seafood sourcing practices among all

our hotels and together, we are committed to use 75%

of total seafood (fresh, frozen, can, dry) that are

sustainably sourced with certificates by 2030. We do

not claim 100% due to the complexity of seafood origin

in the fresh and dry seafood markets in Asia,

particularly for seafood items used in Chinese cuisine.

We will actively continue to look for the right

sustainable options and certifications in China, while

boosting the holistic sustainable seafood offer in non-

Chinese cuisine.

In addition to seafood, we are also committed to source

most of our agricultural food produce sustainably and

locally. Practicing what we preach, our hotels offer

farm-to-table events, we grow our own herbs and even

nurture rooftop beehives. We tested them out at

selected locations and they worked. We now will

expand these initiatives throughout our entire

portfolio. We commit to using 100% caged-free eggs

by 2025, and 100% sustainably sourced coffee, tea,

cocoa, animal protein, sugar, and dairy by 2030. By

2030, 50% of the produce on our menu will be sourced

from local farm/ fisheries/ home grown, supported by

at least half of our properties growing their own food

produce. Collaboration with the suppliers, local

farmers/fishermen and NGOs to define “sustainably

sourced” and product availability locally to enable us

to work towards a more responsible food supply chain

with higher level of transparency and traceability.

We use many textiles in our operations, including our

staff uniforms, bed linens and towels, down comforters,

and leather sofa/fixtures. In the past, we tried to look

for sustainable alternatives, which are not widely

available, especially with luxury and locally/regionally

options. In recent years, we observed an increasing

number of the global fashion leaders promising to use

sustainable textiles. We would do our part too. We are

committed to use 100% sustainable cotton by 2025 and

100% overall textiles are organic, recycled or more

sustainable by 2030. Ideally, we can contribute to the

circularity of non-food materials regionally. This

means we move from a linear model – buy, use,

dispose – to a circular model where we can maximise

our resources, use and reuse, so that nothing is wasted.

Paper is another material frequently used in hotel

operations. All our marketing materials require FSC-

certified paper as per our brand standard. Many of our

hotels use FSC paper products such as toilet paper,

paper napkins. We are committed to using 100% paper

items that are FSC certified and concurrently, we

move towards paperless.

In summary, we commit to sustainable sourcing by

half in 2030. We seek to source materials that do not

harm the environment and welfare of people and

communities. We will take a progressive approach to

sustainable sourcing with an updated policy,

guidelines and capacity building internally. Innovation

and collaboration with others are essential to our

success.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

31

Our 2019 Progress We have started some foundation work to support our

teams learning more about sustainable sourcing. Some

highlights of our initiatives in 2019:

- We partnered with Lever Foundation to conduct a

webinar introducing caged-free eggs to our hotels.

We reviewed our consumption of meat, dairy and

egg products that might have impacts on animal

welfare. The survey results helped to shape our

sustainable sourcing strategy.

- The Langham, New York, Fifth Avenue and The

Langham, Melbourne launched their own gardens

growing herbs and selected fruit items.

- Alibi at Cordis, Hong Kong is one of the founding

members of Food Made Good in Hong Kong.

Moving Forward Sustainable sourcing is a broad topic and it is fortunate

that we have identified some quick wins on many

materials under our direct procurement control. In

short term, we will update our policies and guidelines,

and raise our internal awareness and understanding on

this issue. We will integrate the sustainable and

balanced mindset into our procurement decision

making processes at different levels to ensure we walk

the talk and reach our committed goals by 2030. In the

long run, we need the right partnerships to support our

operation teams and also suppliers/ famers/ fishermen/

small business owners locally to co-create a sustainable

sourcing solution.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

32

Appendices

Appendix 1 – About Our Sustainability Report

This is the ninth sustainability report for Langham

Hospitality Group (LHG). We have modified our

reporting approach which includes:

- This standalone Sustainability Report introduces

our 10-years sustainability strategy with key goals

and targets set for 2030, and relevant programmes

and performance data.

- Group website content (to be updated) contains

our long-term sustainability strategy, guiding

principles and programmes.

- Social media channels share more details on our

progress and initiatives on specific sustainability

issues.

- Annual Reports of Great Eagle Holdings and

Langham Hospitality Investments Ltd. include

sustainability related content of our portfolio.

The report focuses on the sustainability issues material

to Langham Hospitality Group’s commercial activities.

We have identified and evaluated the environmental,

social and governance impacts associated with our

business operations, and the hospitality industry in

general. Please refer to Appendix 2 – Materiality

Matrix for more details.

For any enquiries and feedback regarding this report,

please contact the Group Director of Sustainability at

sustainability.mgr@langhamhotels.com

Scope This annual sustainability report summarises our

strategies, goals, challenges, activities and performance.

It highlights the progress and our next steps for the

reporting year.

This report covers all properties in full operation, under

the management of Langham Hospitality Group,

during the reporting period. Quantitative data and

qualitative information cover all our direct business

activities unless otherwise indicated.

This account of our activities does not include data

from our development and investment activities, and

properties that were no longer under our management

during the reporting period.

Links to information regarding our financial and

corporate governance policies and performance are

available on the corporate website (greateagle.com) as

well as past annual reports.

Framework This report contains Standard Disclosures from the

Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) Sustainability

Reporting Guidelines version 2016. The list of the GRI

Standard Disclosures and their locations in this report

are provided in Appendix 5 – List of GRI Standard

Disclosures.

We have prepared this report with reference to the

EarthCheck standards for the accommodation sector,

International Tourism Partnership (ITP) Goals and

Hong Kong Exchange Clearing’s Environmental, Social

and Governance Reporting Guide.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

33

Appendix 2 – Materiality Matrix

To plan our 10-year sustainability strategy, we conducted a full materiality assessment during 2018-2019.

Benchmarking: Benchmarking exercise on the sustainability strategies of the international and local industry players, and material issues identified by the industry professional organisations such as EarthCheck and

International Tourism Partnerships. Opinion Survey: CONNECT Strategy Review Opinion Survey asked our leaders and managers to rank the impacts of various Environmental, Social (Colleagues and Community),

and Governance (ESG) issues on our hotels. Strategy Review Workshop: One-day strategy review workshop with 30 leaders and function heads from Corporate Office to review the CONNECT Strategy. We identified

important ESG issues and developed the mid- and long-term goals on each ESG issue. Stakeholders’ Roundtable: Around 20 professionals from different sectors (including commercial, NGOs, consultants) and

expertise on different subjects participated in our roundtable. They reviewed and validated our 10-year sustainability strategy and shared their opinion with our Executive Committee members.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

34

Appendix 3 – Engaging with Stakeholders

We cherish the relationships with our stakeholders

along our sustainability journey. At the hotel level, all

our EarthCheck certified hotels are required to conduct

stakeholder engagements locally.

In 2018, we conducted an extensive review on our

CONNECT Strategy to meet not only the current, but

also the future stakeholders’ expectations. A series of

workshops, interviews and survey with our key

internal and external stakeholders were completed to

shape our 10-year sustainability strategy to lead our

growth and development towards 2030 sustainably.

Colleagues Every year, we seek our colleagues’ opinions on our

sustainability performance through our annual

Colleague Satisfaction Survey. In 2018, we conducted a

comprehensive survey to invite their views on various

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues on

our hotels now and in the next 10 years. We appreciate

their fruitful inputs and expect to conduct opinion

surveys on ESG issues regularly.

Guests Guests’ feedback is the most critical information that

we use for facilitating our continuous improvement.

We utilised a robust voice-of-the-customers (VOC)

system to collect the guests’ feedback and tailor

services and products, including our sustainability

aspects.

Experts We have built and maintained partnerships and on-

going dialogues with industry stakeholders and

experts. Their insights and expertise help us to

prioritise our CONNECT initiatives so that we use and

invest our resources in the best possible way. We also

maintained on-going dialogue with international and

local sustainability organisations such as ADM

Foundation, Business Environment Council, Food

Made Good Hong Kong, Forest Stewardship Council

(FSC), Green Monday, Lever Foundation, The Mekong

Club, and WWF Hong Kong, which are essential to us

in our sustainability efforts.

Industry Partners Through our partners like EarthCheck, G.R.E.E.N.

Hospitality, and International Tourism Partnerships,

the industry network enables us to challenge each other

and work together to enhance the overall

environmental and social standards across our

industry.

EarthCheck Inner Circle Forum 2019 at Brisbane, Australia.

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

35

Appendix 4 – UN Sustainable Development Goals

Our CONNECT Programme and EarthCheck certification enable the Group to contribute directly and indirectly to all of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

established by the United Nations in 2015. The relevant SDGs were integrated in our 10-years CONNECT Strategy Review.

CONNECT EarthCheck Company Standard (Version 4.0May 2018)

UN SDGs

Go

ver

nan

ce

Co

llea

gu

es

Co

mm

un

ity

En

vir

on

men

t

GH

G e

mis

sio

ns

En

erg

y E

ffic

ien

cy,

Co

nse

rvat

ion

&

Man

agem

ent

Man

agem

ent

of

Fre

shw

ater

Res

ou

rces

Eco

syst

em

Co

nse

rvat

ion

&

man

agem

ent

So

cial

& C

ult

ura

l

Man

agem

ent

Lan

d U

se P

lan

nin

g

and

Man

agem

ent

Air

qu

alit

y p

rote

ctio

n

Was

tew

ater

man

agem

ent

So

lid

Was

te

Man

agem

ent

En

vir

on

men

tall

y

har

mfu

l su

bst

ance

s

1. No Poverty

2. Zero Hunger

3. Good Health and Well-being

4. Quality Education

5. Gender Equality

6. Clean Water and Sanitation

7. Affordable and Clean Energy

8. Decent Work and Economic Growth

9. Industry, Innovation and

Infrastructure

10. Reduced Inequalities

11. Sustainable Cities and Communities

12. Responsible Consumption and

Production

13. Climate Action

14. Life below Water

15. Life on Land

16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

17. Partnerships for the Goals

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

36

Appendix 5 – List of GRI Standard Disclosures

This following table provides cross-references to the Global Reporting Initiatives Sustainability Reporting Guidelines version 2016. It is a framework of internationally

accepted guidelines and principles for companies and organisations to report on corporate responsibility and sustainability performance.

General Standard Disclosures Disclosure number Disclosure title Report Pages Comments

102-1 Name of the organization 4

102-2 Activities, brands, products, and services 4

102-3 Location of headquarters See comments Hong Kong, SAR

102-4 Location of operations 4 See also Corporate Website

102-5 Ownership and legal form 4

102-6 Markets served 4 See also Corporate Website

102-7 Scale of the organization 5 See also Corporate Website

102-8 Information on employees and other workers 5 and 13

102-9 Supply chain 11

102-10 Significant changes to the organization and its supply chain See comments Nil

102-11 Precautionary Principle or approach 9 and 23

102-12 External initiatives 34

102-13 Membership of associations 34

102-14 Statement from senior decision-maker 2 and 3

102-15 Key impacts, risks and opportunities 6, 9, 12, 17 and 23

102-16 Values, principles, standards, and norms of behaviour 7 See also Corporate Website

102-18 Governance structure 8

102-40 List of stakeholder groups 34

102-41 Collective bargaining agreements 12

102-42 Identifying and selecting stakeholders 34

102-43 Approach to stakeholder engagement 34

102-44 Key topics and concerns raised 6 and 33

102-45 Entities included in the consolidated financial statements 4 See also Corporate Website

102-46 Defining report content and topic Boundaries 32

102-47 List of material topics 6 and 33

102-48 Restatements of information See comments Nil

102-49 Changes in reporting 32

102-50 Reporting period 32

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP 2030

37

Disclosure number Disclosure title Report Pages Comments

102-51 Date of most recent report 2019

102-52 Reporting cycle 32

102-53 Contact point for questions regarding the report 32

102-56 External assurance See comments Partial environmental data

by EarthCheck

103-1 Explanation of the material topic and its Boundary 6 and 32

103-2 The management approach and its components 6, 9, 12, 17 and 23

103-3 Evaluation of the management approach 6

Specific Standard Disclosures Material Aspects Disclosures on Management Approach (DMA) and Indicators Report Pages Comments

Economic 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed See comments Refer to Annual Report 2019

of Great Eagle Holding Ltd.

Market Presence 202-2 Proportion of senior management hired from the local community 12

Anti-Corruption 205-2 Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures 10

Anti-Corruption 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken See comments Nil

Energy 302-1 Energy consumption within the organization 24

Energy 302-3 Energy intensity 24

Energy 302-4 Reduction of energy consumption 24

Water 303-3 Water withdrawal 26

Emissions 305-1 Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions 24

Emissions 305-2 Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions 24

Emissions 305-4 GHG emissions intensity 24

Emissions 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions 24

Occupational Health and Safety 403-9 Work-related Injuries 15

Training and Education 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee 14

Training and Education 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs 14

Training and Education 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews 14

Diversity and Equal Opportunity 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees 13

Local Communities 413-1 Operations with local community engagement, impact assessments, and development

programs 17

Customer Health and Safety 416-1 Assessment of the health and safety impacts of product and service categories 9